Jean Pierier of Mailly, called Jean de Mailly, was a Dominican chronicler working in Metz in the mid-13th century. In his Latin chronicle of the Diocese of Metz, Chronica universalis Mettensis,Chronica universalis Mettensis, edited by Georg Waitz. The chronicle was printed in Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores, vol. 24 (Hannover, 1879:502-26). the fable of Pope Joan first appears in written form. He is also the compiler of the Abbreviatio in gestis sanctorum, a collection of legends about the saints which is an important forerunner of the Golden Legend.
Notes
Further reading Antoine Dondaine, "Le dominicain Jean de Mailly et la Légende dorée", Archives d’histoire dominicaine, Le Saulchoir, 1946, p. 53-102.
Editions
Jean de Mailly, Abbreviatio in gestis et miraculis sanctorum. Supplementum hagiographicum. Ed. Giovanni Paolo Maggioni (Florence, SISMEL/Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2013). .